A capacity field of sixteen two-year-olds plus four emergencies make up the 2018 field for the Group 1 $1.5m Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Craig Williams will ride Kinky Boom, above, in the 2018 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
The Lindsay Park Team of David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig have qualified four youngsters for the $1.5m race, the undefeated pair of Long Leaf and Enbihaar plus Ennis Hill and Qafila.
Lindsay Park led in last year’s winner Catchy with Craig Williams in the saddle but the big race jockey has switched camps this year and will ride the Tony McEvoy trained Kinky Boom.
McEvoy will also have a busy day after qualifying three in the final sixteen plus the first and third emergencies Aristocratic Miss and Roobeena.
As well as Kinky Boom, McEvoy will saddle up Run Naan (Andrew Mallyon) and Oohood (Luke Currie).
Leading Victorian trainer Darren Weir will be having his first runner in the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes with Native Soldier who has won two of his five starts at Geelong and Moonee Valley and heads into Saturday’s contest on the back of a third behind Written By and Plague Stone in the Group 3 $200,000 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m) for the colts and geldings at Caulfield on February 10.
“We bought him to run in the Magic Millions,” Weir told AAP.
“He probably nearly would have snuck into the field but the owners were a bit keen to have a go at this. So it’s good.
“We never bought two-year-old types so he was sort of the start of trying to buy a bit better two-year-old types.
“I just reckon he deserves his spot in the race.”
Native Soldier will be clashing again with the Grahame Begg trained Written By and James Cummings’ Plague Stone who are also final acceptors for the Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes.
Betting for the 2018 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au: $7 Kinky Boom, Plague Stone, $7.50 Written By, $8 Long Leaf, Oohood, $9 Prairie Fire, $11 Ennis Hill, $13 Native Soldier, $15 Enbihaar, $17 Run Naan, $21 Encryption, Lady Horseowner, Qafila, $31 Ollivander, $34 Crossing The Abbey, $41 More Than Exceed, $51 Grand Symphony, $101 Aristocratic, Roobeena, Melveen.
Final field for the 2018 Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m)
| # | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11×1 | LONG LEAF | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Kerrin McEvoy | 56.5kg |
| 2 | 1×1 | WRITTEN BY | Grahame Begg | Jordan Childs | 56.5kg |
| 3 | 11×35 | RUN NAAN | Tony McEvoy | Andrew Mallyon | 56.5kg |
| 4 | 31 | PRAIRIE FIRE | Mick Price | Mark Zahra | 56.5kg |
| 5 | 120 | OLLIVANDER | Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra | Chris Symons | 56.5kg |
| 6 | 32×2 | ENCRYPTION | James Cummings | – | 56.5kg |
| 7 | 56113 | NATIVE SOLDIER | Darren Weir | Brad Rawiller | 56.5kg |
| 8 | 2×2 | PLAGUE STONE | James Cummings | – | 56.5kg |
| 9 | 2 | GRAND SYMPHONY | Robbie Griffiths | Jye McNeil | 56.5kg |
| 10 | 11 | ENBIHAAR | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Cory Parish | 54.5kg |
| 11 | 1 | KINKY BOOM | Tony McEvoy | Craig Williams | 54.5kg |
| 12 | 11 | LADY HORSEOWNER | Greg Eurell | – | 54.5kg |
| 13 | 41 | ENNIS HILL | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Stephen Baster | 54.5kg |
| 14 | 4×126 | CROSSING THE ABBEY | Tim Hughes | Luke Nolen | 54.5kg |
| 15 | 14x | QAFILA | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Dwayne Dunn | 54.5kg |
| 16 | 2×32 | OOHOOD | Tony McEvoy | Luke Currie | 54.5kg |
| 17e | 3×332 | ARISTOCRATIC MISS | Tony McEvoy | Jamie Kah | 54.5kg |
| 18e | 2×1 | MORE THAN EXCEED (NZ) | Phillip Stokes | Dom Tourneur | 56.5kg |
| 19e | 2×65 | ROOBEENA | Tony McEvoy | – | 54.5kg |
| 20e | 61 | MELVEEN | Henry Dwyer | Damien Thornton | 54.5kg |
